Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

It RETURNS! Apparently the Wilco message board folks have already figured out it's the last weekend of June and every hotel in town is already gone. Looks like camping or Williamstown this time around.

With those words, Mass MoCA spokeswoman Katherine Myers confirmed Tuesday what many in the local arts community already have been anticipating -- the popular band Wilco will reprise its Solid Sound Festival during the museum's upcoming summer season.

She declined to disclose when the festival would take place, noting that several options -- including a rumored June date -- have been discussed.

However, the band is expected to make an announcement related to the Solid Sound Festival later this week, according to Wilco's spokeswoman Deb Bernardini.

Held over three days in August, the Wilco Solid Sound Festival included numerous bands, comedians and sound installations to the museum's campus. The event drew an estimated 6,000 people to the weekend event, pumping an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million into the local economy.

The pending announcement isn't a surprise -- Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy hinted several times during the festival, both at a press conference and during the band's show, that they'd be returning in 2011.

But the band's return isn't the only thing the museum has in store for its upcoming summer and fall seasons -- there's also a planned expansion that will include a landscape and sound installation project by artist Jane Philbrick that will encompass 1.5 acres of MoCA's campus.

"We're going to have a pretty large expansion in the summer," Myers
said. "We have the large landscaping project, which technically won't open until September because we want to let the plants fill in. It will look nice during the summer, but in the fall, it will be perfect. We also have another artist, Stephen Vitiello, who will have a sound installation in the former power plant building."
There's also been some discussions about a sculpture exhibit for Building 18, but she said details for that project have yet to be finalized, she said.

Philbrick began work on the industrial garden, "Expanded Field," in August with a team of students from the Lund School of Architecture in Sweden and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with local landscaping firm, New England Landscapes and Aquatics.

The garden, which will be on the museum's south end, will incorporate paths, plantings and a procession of sitting areas to draw audiences into it. Plans call for the design to utilize an existing foundation on the site for a sitting area called "Body Pockets" -- made up of geometric hollows carved into the foundation. There's also a seating area called "The Rounds," made of dry stack wall and rammed earth; the "Sing Set," which is a swing set that plays the harmonic scale; and a "Sound Wall," featuring Philbrick's original spoken word text compositions in collaboration with Bard Wells and the Williams College vocal group, "Roomful of Teeth."

Plans also call for an "Asphalt Meadow" planted with native grass and wildflowers and a fragmentary path, named the "Allee," which travels under the birch trees along the Hoosic River.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

I got a room in Williamstown at the Magnusun Motel. Last year I stayed about 10 miles away in Vermont so this will be an improvement.
Staying at the Holiday Inn in North Adams would be amazing, but I'm sure I'll be hanging out there every night anyway.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival – an intimate three day celebration of music, comedy, art and community – returns to MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA June 24 – 26. Envisioned by Wilco and presented in collaboration with MASS MoCA, America’s largest center for contemporary art, this year’s festival boasts two headline concerts by Wilco, a comedy cabaret hosted by John Hodgman, the new Solid Ground tent site for nearby camping, a Euclid Records pop-up store, a wide array of all-ages programming and much more. Tickets are on sale 11am EST this Friday, Jan. 21 through the festival’s official website SolidSoundFestival.com, through the MASS MoCA box office and through massmoca.org. See below for complete details on tickets, including early-bird pricing, single-day tickets, free and reduced-fee ticketing for children and more.

Tickets for Solid Sound 2011 are on-sale 11am EST this Friday, January 21 through solidsoundfestival.com, massmoca.org and the MASS MoCA box office. Prices listed below include admission to festival, museum fees and service fees.

There are a limited number of single-day tickets available at special “early worm” pricing. Should any of these allotments sell out, there’s no guarantee more will become available.

Children 6 & under are free at Solid Sound. As a special offer this year, weekend festival passes for kids ages 7-10 are $50 and ONLY AVAILABLE at the Solid Sound Box Office, starting Friday, June 24. They will be available throughout the entire weekend.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

God damn it, I want to go back. Thurston Moore being there means Nels Cline and Thurston will have an amazing and noisy experimental rock out session. Ah now that I look closer I see Pillow Wand is the name of their duo. Maybe I need to reconsider things.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

this is gonna be fun... ATP New Jersey was way too much $$$ for me right now, so this will be a nice summer getaway. A friend secured a campsite for $40 for the weekend about 10 miles away. MassMOCA is really cool, even for the artistically challenged such as myself. Never seen Wilco, so especially excited for them and Thurston Moore. Levon Helm Band should be good too. Any reports on the parking situation? Seems like we could bike into the fest, but I want to bar hop and enjoy the night... Biking home is an absolute no-no. Also curious about the on site camping, might be worth the extra $.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

"Early Worm" tickets on sale today...got mine for $110, ticketing & fees included (pretty good for three daze!). There's so few festival in New England that I simply HAVE to go to this one!!! http://solidsoundfestival.com/home/

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

Originally Posted by Drinkey McDrinkerstein

Heather and I are in! This should be fun! We're looking into rooms through AirBnB.

So, I looked at a place at AirBNB but the only one in North Adams that isn't sold out is not booking at that time.
I'm looking at VRBO now and there are some things in nearby Williamstown that are reasonable. It's the Berkshires so it's pretty and, you know, full of cows.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

From past lineups, it seemed to be a mixture of experimental groups and folkier stuff, not really a ton of names i recognized, plus pretty much every member of Wilco did solo performances of some sort, along with a bunch of installations in the museum and things around town. I'm honestly not that concerned with a killer line up, moreso i'm excited about experiencing something totally different and maybe discovering new acts i'm not aware of.

They also are integrated within some of the art installations at the museum. Glenn had an interactive drum exhibit, Nels had a guitar foot pedal exhibit, Pat had a polaroid photo exhibit etc. Some comedy as well.

Year one was a headline show by Wilco on Saturday night and Jeff Tweedy solo accustic to close it out on Sunday.
Year two it was two headlining Wilco shows

We don't know specifics about this year yet. I cant stress enough how cool the MASS MOCA is either. It's a great museum with really interesting exhibits. See my photos above.

Re: Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

Originally Posted by faxman75

I'm totally in on that idea. My ticket came last week too.

Cool. Andrew and I will be flying into Boston and renting a car to drive to the fest, so if anyone is in Boston and wants to hitch a ride, we could work that out too.
What nights should we book the house? I was thinking Thursday thru Sunday night (leave Monday)?